Car insurance and the younger driver

Most people learn to drive between the ages of 17 and 25 and as soon as they’ve passed their driving test they think they’re 120% passed as competant drivers. They can take the world on at driving. They’re budding rally drivers and F1 proteges.  They know itn all! WRONG! Just ask the car insurers and consider four facts:

• 1 in 5 drivers crash within one year of passing their test.
  
  
• 1 in 3 male drivers between 17 and 20 years of age crash within two years of passing their test.
  
  
• An 18 year old driver is 3 times as likely to be involved in a crash as a 48 year old driver.
  
  
• Young drivers are more likely to be involved in high speed accidents, accidents involving losing control, accidents after dark and accidents during overtaking and negotiating a bend.

So it’s no surprise that any young driver will be classed as a higher risk than older, and more experienced, drivers on the road. Consequently they can expect to pay significantly more for their car insurance premiums. And it’s not just that the basic premium is higher, relatively few young drivers build up many years of No Claims Bonus. This all conspires to very expensive car insuranve. Add this to any penalty pointsthey accumulateand finding competitive high risk car insurance can become a major problem.

This means that to stand any chance of getting a reasonable car insurance quote you have to shop around. If you don't you can find yourself forking out hundreds of pounds more than you need to. All it takes is 30 minutes searching online. Some car insurers won’t touch young drivers (which they normally defined as under 25 – but if the car is relatively powerful, that can go up to 30.)

But it’s adviseable to start out on your driving career with a low powered car and a low engine capacity. And it’s also good advice to get quotes for any car you’re interested in buying before you buy it. Then you can be sure that you can get insurance for that car and at a price you can afford - before splash out buying the vehicle!

The fact is that these days all car insurance is expensive, but younger drivers are quite rightly perceived to be the highest risk. If you buy an old banger to get around in, it can even cost more to insure the car than it cost to buy!

When you add the cost of insurance to the costs of fuel and road tax many youngsters are priced out of running their own car.

And then there’s the problem of financing the car. The credit crunch has not only hit mortgages. Most lenders are  now very choosey when it comes to car finance. Unless you have an exlempory credit record you’ll find the interest charges are very high. If you do have an impaired credit history the chances are that you will not find a lender willing to let you have any loan.

The green brigade will probably be quite happy to see people priced off the road onto public transport but I suspect few young drivers will share their enthusiasm.